Public Or Private

WHY DO we have to have hospitals, clinics or nursing homes just for veterans? Why can't the government just pay their bills at an already-existing public or private facility? There are empty beds available, and we spend tax dollars to build new hospitals?It doesn't make sense.Chuck RileyLONGWOOD

The past year has been rough for many Florida colleges and universities as the sagging economy put the squeeze on budgets -- and it looks as if the worst is yet to come. At public universities, more state-mandated cuts are likely before the end of the year. And at private colleges, officials worry students will transfer to less expensive public schools because family finances are being hit by job losses and less access to home-equity and private student loans. All schools expect financial-aid requests to skyrocket.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The family behind the Wal-Mart empire gave $300 million to the University of Arkansas on Thursday, the largest gift ever to a public university in the United States. The money, from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, will establish an undergraduate honors college and also go toward the university's graduate school. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the donation is the fifth-largest to any U.S. university, public or private.

We pay taxes and expect good education, though that is not exactly what we get back from government schools. Unfortunately, only a minority of Americans is capable of providing good -- read private or home school -- teaching to their children. The voucher program then represents to many the only hope for a better education. In any market quality is often achieved through competition because people must prove their capacity in order to stay in business. If customers are not satisfied by the service provided, they can simply leave and go to where they believe they will be better served.

I WOULD like to address the article published in the Sentinel on June 2 regarding private and public schools. Some of the items parents said they were looking for in private schools, such as moral education and discipline, should be taught at home.Opportunities are available to those who seek and work toward making them a reality in public or private schools. There may be fewer discipline problems at a private school because such schools can be more selective. I know children who have been turned away from private schools because they did not ''fit the standards.

LETTER WRITER Carl Patin wrote that people have the right to use public or private schools, but that since government requires basic education of all, public schools are supported by property owners.Why saddle the property owners with the financial burdens of education? If one is to have freedom of choice, why make him pay for the choice of others?About half of the property taxes in Seminole County is for the school system, yet 20 percent of the property owners pay little or no taxes because of the $25,000 homestead exemption.

I WRITE to discuss the issue of public vs. private schools.I spent eight years in private schools, then changed to public for high school. The decision was made by me, and strongly supported by my family.It was not, however, supported by some others. One woman sternly said to my mother, ''Morality, morality, morality.'' She could not believe I was going to a public school.Whether you are in a public or private school, there will be sex, drugs and violence, and in this society there is no escaping it. If you have high morals and values, the type of school and influences around you should not matter.

VOUCHERS WILL not destroy the public school system. They will strengthen it. The most successful aspect of our state education system are our colleges and universities. Students have the free choice to select the higher learning center of their choice, public or private.Further, public money has been paid by the billions into state public and private colleges and universities alike in the form of vouchers (GI Bill, Pell Grants). No one accuses the state of abdicating its responsibility to education for allowing choice in this venue.

REGARDING ORANGE County Chairman Linda Chapin's justification for public employee ''bonuses,'' few would doubt that her private heart is in the right place. We all respect excellence wherever it's found, whether public or private. However, her public heart should tell her that government should be run like government, and those in government are exercising a public trust.One of the trusts of public workers, whether elected or appointed, is that the public's money is prudently spent. If public tax dollars are well spent, and even come in under budget, then government workers are rewarded by salary payments.

We pay taxes and expect good education, though that is not exactly what we get back from government schools. Unfortunately, only a minority of Americans is capable of providing good -- read private or home school -- teaching to their children. The voucher program then represents to many the only hope for a better education. In any market quality is often achieved through competition because people must prove their capacity in order to stay in business. If customers are not satisfied by the service provided, they can simply leave and go to where they believe they will be better served.

Where do we begin to take the measure of our children to find the school that fits? Do we begin at the neighborhood public school with its intriguing mix of cultures and variety of programs or at the private school with its reputation for academic excellence and state-of-the-art facilities? Do we begin at the religious school with its spiritual commitment and strict discipline or at home with a school of our own design? And must our children end where they begin? Choosing the best school for our children can be agonizing and is the source of many sleepless nights, say parents and education professionals.

TALLAHASSEE -- In a sweeping decision that critics said will open the door to government waste and abuse, the Florida Supreme Court ruled Thursday that not all e-mails stored in government computers are public. Only e-mails related to government business are public records, the justices said. E-mails that government employees consider private can be kept secret. Critics said the ruling could have a sweeping impact in denying the public access to see what their government is doing in the computer age. Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist, whose office joined the case, called the ruling "disappointing."

The executive committee of United Arts of Central Florida got a sense of what life would be like operating under Florida's "Sunshine" laws on Monday. And what it heard caused the committee to decide to spend $10,000 on having the courts decide whether United Arts is indeed a public agency or can continue to operate as a private, nonprofit foundation. Attorney David Evans described complying with the "Sunshine" laws as "not the end of the world, but a different world. You would have to change the ways you do business."

The executive committee of United Arts of Central Florida will meet with attorneys Monday to discuss whether the organization is, as it has always maintained, a private nonprofit organization or a public agency subject to Florida's Sunshine Laws. The question, which UA officials say has never come up before, is on the table because a member of UA's standards and allocations committee has demanded a shopping list of UA records, including the minutes of executive committee meetings, financial statements and cell phone bills.

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. -- The family behind the Wal-Mart empire gave $300 million to the University of Arkansas on Thursday, the largest gift ever to a public university in the United States. The money, from the Walton Family Charitable Support Foundation, will establish an undergraduate honors college and also go toward the university's graduate school. According to The Chronicle of Higher Education, the donation is the fifth-largest to any U.S. university, public or private.

A house of prostitution. A neighbor's barking dog. A noisy airport. A smelly factory. A rowdy tavern. A stinking city sewer plant. A trash-filled vacant lot. An apartment building where drug dealers congregate. A noisy, late-night dance hall.What do these offensive activities have in common?If you answered, ''They are all public or private nuisances that were abated, reduced in intensity or that caused neighbors to be paid damages,'' you get an A and go to the head of the class.However, abating or reducing offensive activity, or receiving payment for a public or private nuisance, often isn't easy.

Circuit Judge Don Briggs is expected to rule today on whether a man accused of raping and strangling a Leesburg woman receives public or private defense counsel.Mark Olvera, 29, is accused of the June 1989 murder of Tina Hendricks, 18. The woman's partially clothed body was found in a Leesburg canal. Investigators say she was raped and strangled.Olvera originally was assigned defense attorneys from the 5th Circuit Public Defender's Office after he was arrested in California and returned to Lake County.

A few weeks ago, a friend asked, "What is the difference between a public and a private nuisance?" After I gave him a brief definition, he asked: "Are smelly chickens and a crowing rooster a public or private nuisance? What can I do about this problem?" My friend bought a house a few months ago. The seller disclosed a few insignificant defects of the house, such as a loose front porch handrail, peeling paint on the west side and leaky gutters. But no mention was made of the chickens belonging to the adjoining homeowner at the rear of the property.

VOUCHERS WILL not destroy the public school system. They will strengthen it. The most successful aspect of our state education system are our colleges and universities. Students have the free choice to select the higher learning center of their choice, public or private.Further, public money has been paid by the billions into state public and private colleges and universities alike in the form of vouchers (GI Bill, Pell Grants). No one accuses the state of abdicating its responsibility to education for allowing choice in this venue.